Modern aircraft are often configured with various systems that provide data describing the aircraft's operational state. For example, the aircraft may include a central maintenance computer (or other computer system) that collects and stores operational data generated by various systems onboard the aircraft. A mechanic (or other maintenance personnel) may then utilize a maintenance terminal to interrogate the central computer system and identify event indicators that are associated with one or more operational issues on the aircraft. These event indicators also correspond to aircraft support data that further describes the operational issues and/or how to address them. The aircraft support data may be in the form of an aircraft maintenance manual.
This process for diagnosing an aircraft operational issue requires the mechanic remain at a fixed location on the aircraft (e.g., positioned at the maintenance terminal). Thus, the mechanic is required to board the aircraft in order to review the operational data. The mechanic must then go to the appropriate region on the aircraft to address the operational issue by, for example, replacing one or more Line Replaceable Units (LRUs). Thus, the user of a single maintenance terminal to view operational data may lead to increased repair times and return-to-service times for the aircraft.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method for providing integrated operational data and support data for a vehicle to a remote device. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.